angle today between noon and 1. and you know 10 and 2 is the time you can burn but a variation that extends through the afternoon hours and lap on the sunscreen and we will have a high uv index and if it's the first time outdoors, for an extended period of time considering that like us, you will work for a living and you will work all the time but you take this weekend off. lap on the hats and sunscreen and shades. 89 this afternoon for the two degree guaranteed high. a chance to see the sun makesed -- mixed with high clouds could make for a pretty sunset. weekend outlook coming up in moment. let's see what's happening with tonya. >> reporter: no major incidents on the highways. that's always good news. 759 southbound no problems out of reisterstown. top side 659 at harford road. no -- 695 at harford, no problems to report. we have an incident to be careful of in harford county, hazmat situation, a fuel spill on mountain road on 152 mountain road.

and let me tell you about the drive times. 83 south out of shawan to the beltway 5 minutes and 95 white marsh to the beltway 6 minutes, traveling the outer loop 795 to 70, 7 minutes and 6 minutes between bel air and providence. be careful mountain road 152 north of 95 at old joppa road, they are cleaning up fuel. charley. >> thanks a lot. the 4th of july season brings friends, family and fun and brings together the summer staple of crabs and a little beer. but if you are headed out to grab a six-pack or a few pound of crab legs, prices for both may appear a bit different. abc2's linda so is live to explain what is going on. linda. >> reporter: well, charley, first, the maryland alcohol tax takes effect today which means your six-pack will cost more, 3% more. this is 3 cents on the dollar. the good news is that crab prices are going down. joining us this morning is brendan from conrad's crabs. thanks for being here. >> my pleasure. >> reporter: so the last time

we left you, we seasoned the crabs. now what are we doing? >> we are going over to cook them and get steam on them and give them 20 minutes and they will be ready to go. >> reporter: everyone wants to know. >> too late to order are you out. >> call the day you need they will and we will have them. never a problem. >> reporter: and talk to us about the prices. what are we looking at? >> for prices bushel wise small 139, large at 239. and prices are down from last week. that's where they will be for the weekend. but once we are past the holiday, they will fall more. >> reporter: wonderful. and so steaming is down to an art here. what are you doing? >> cooking up a quick release valve that will connect to the system out back to the pot. we will fire it up and set the timer and give it 18 minutes and we will be ready to go. >> reporter: 18 minutes is pretty interesting. 18 not 20? >> 18 not 20. it took research but we got it right. >> reporter: wonderful.

you said people can call you the day of. you are not out? >> we are not out. plenty. the supply is great. >> reporter: we talked about this before, but you said you use maryland crabs and you think those are the best? why is that? >> maryland crabs have the best flavor. the water quality is just right. the crabs have the best flavor and color and consist nsy is always there and beats out the crabs from other parts of the country. >> reporter: we can't have crabs without the beer but you won't pass on the price at least this weekend to the customers. >> not this weekend the we will leave things as they are and give people the best chance to have for a good 4th of 1kwru8. >> reporter: -- july. >> reporter: thanks so much. we will steam the crabs and be back and show you what they look like and you heard it from brendan, they are not passing off the alcohol sales tax today or this weekend to customers. for the 4th of july weekend,you can enjoy your beer and crabs at the same price. live in parkville, linda so, abc2 news. >> besides the alcohol tax, other laws are taking effect

today. wineries can now ship directly to your front door. you can take your dog along with you when you dine outside. but of course check with the restaurants to make sure they've policy allowing that. and state employees will have to pay more into the pensions up to 2%. plus it will take longer for them to vest into the retirement plans. in annapolis today, teresa goldsmith will be sworn in as the insurance commissioner. it regulates the state's insurance industry. she was appointed by governor o'malley to the public service commission in 2009. governor o'malley will be swearing in robert young to serve as director of the maryland state department of assets and taxation. changes in store for johns hopkins hospital. there's word that 160 clerical associates could be laid off. the hospital is transitioning to an electronic medical support system a spokesman says the workers might find new jobs at hopkins and the hospital is offering paid training. 5:34 making news around the nation only a central services

will be operating this morning in minnesota. that's because the state government is shut down. that means padlocks on state parks this 4th of july weekend many the democratic government and republicans couldn't come to an agreement on how to close a 5 billion dollar deficit. towering flanes in downtown charleston south carolina, witnesses -- flames in downtown charleston, south carolina, witnesses saw the fire spread and burn three buildings seven cars and one motorcycle. no one was hurt. authorities are looking into whether a serial arsonist may to be blame. in new orleans, a man is accused of robbing a convenience store while his 5- year-old son was by his side. the robbery caught on camera. he walked into a convenience store with his little boy. they bought a couple things and then headed back out to the car. the dad came back in and stole money from the cash register before taking off. the clerk managed to get a partial license plate number and police ended up catching the guy later on.

one airline passenger was awakened by a tickle. >> what? >> a tickle on his arm. >> what creepy crawly insect was on him and how the airline compensated him for his injuries. probably for stress, too. >> i think so. plus, space shuttle atlantis is scheduled to take off july 8th. why this trip will go down in history. you are watching "good morning maryland" first and only at 4:30 in the morning.

we have heard of snakes on plane and in this case it was another creature that caused a scare. jeff ellis says he fell asleep on a flight from seattle to anchorage. when he woke up, he felt something in his sleeve and didn't think anything of it. and then it tickled his arm a second time and he grabbed it and realized it was a scorpion. and it stunning him -- stung him. >> i got a scorpion and it stung me. >> i didn't believe him at first and i saw it. he held the napkin up for me to see and i saw the tail wiggling. and i pretty much jumped out of my seat. >> i would have screamed my

head off. it turns out doctors on the plane checked him out and medics on the ground took over once they landed. we heard from them so he is doing okay. he has been given 4,000 frequent flyer mires and two free -- flyer miles and two free round at this . tickets. >> what? >> hopefully not to arizona. >> there's one thing you would have screamed tf it was a scorpion. what -- if it was a scorpion. what would you have done if it was a rat. >> i would have been looking for the emergency doors. he knows how i feels about row dents. let's check the weather with justin. >> thanks. anybody reckize the irony alaska -- recognize the irony? alaska airlines? >> it was a toe stoa away maybe he was on a cruise. >> maybe they -- stow away. maybe he was on a cruise or something. >> the local tropical scene on the beaches. we will start off in delaware

at mid-60s. a partly cloudy sky. we will go to ocean city where just inland, 63. this is interesting sometimes we have cooler temperatures inland overnight and heat up during the day and moderated along the beach line. and the sea breeze kicks in. that's the air conditioning this weekend. high uv index expected statewide. i want to give them respect. we will show you some of the weather conditions back into the mountains in the next half- hour. but for right now, we are focusing on on ocean -- focusing on ocean city. we started heating things up to isolated showers and trying to really pinpoint some of the disturbances. one might reach late sunday into monday morning. and daytime temperatures should still be aim for 92 even on the 4th of july. let's see what's happening on the road with tonya. >> reporter: we are still doing okay. accident free on the major highways. at least that's always good news. let's look at top side of the beltway where we have

trafficflowing freely. no problems to report. volume is building but no major incidents. the only thing we have going on is in harford county. we have a fuel spill cleaned up. mountain road route 152 north of 95 at old joppa road before singer road, so be careful if you are heading through mountain road, charley. nasa is gearing up for the last space shuttle mission. i know you are eagerly awaiting this. >> i am. >> atlantis takes off a week from today. four astronauts will carry 8,000 pounds of food, clothess and critical spare parts to the outpost. all right. stay with us this morning. investigators are looking into answers as to what started a fire downtown. we will tell you why fighting the fire created challenges for the first responders. and a state trooper killed in the line of duty touched young lives in anne arundel county. coming up, find out how to help

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local soccer team is helping keep a maryland state trooper's memory alive. shaft hunter died in may when he lost control of his police cruiser while chasing a speeding motorcylist on interstate 95. during his off duty time, the former marine was involved with a soccer team in anne arundel county. now that team needs a little bit of help. sherrie johnon is here to tell you more about the story. >> reporter: well, for six years the team known as the blackhawks played soccer together. this group worked hard at a shot of the national competition. shaft hunter's son plays on the team and he sponsoreded them often. they were award the u.s. club soccer region champion and after hard work and dedication, they have advanced to a national soccer competition. the only issue is they he must raise about 30,000 dollars to attend that competition and they need a little help to get there. >> sponsor the kid to -- he sponsored the kids whenever he could. and at this . i know -- at this

point i. know he was proud of his son and proud of this team and proud of the accomplishments the team made so far. so, for that, i thank him and i am blessed to have known him and i know he would be proud of the team behind me right now. >> he was a great man. everybody loved him and cracked jokes and always a good man. once he came to work, he was serious. >> reporter: now if you would like to help response outer team, contact two local organize -- sponsor the team, contact two local organizers. 410-371-5191. and that national soccer competition is held in idaho. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. it's 5:47. today funeral services will be held for a 15-year-old killed touring a slumber party. authorities -- during a slumber party. a11-year-old was playing with a gun and accidently shot michael brooks. the gun was in a locked room but the 11-year-old found the

key. the services will be held at 10 this morning at christ united methodist church on florida avenue in baltimore. new this morning, baltimore's summer jump-start warrant initiative will start summer -- rather is going to start in the next two weeks. mayor stephanie rawlings-breaks will -- blake will make an announcement. so far, they have made 635 arrests with this. carroll county sheriff's office is taking the law enforcement lead in the county. the deputies were proafl handled by state police. under the deal the sheriff office will be responsible for licensing and maintaining the property information data base and sexual president tourings. they will monitor the incidents on state and federal highways. investigators will try to figure out what caused a fire in downtown bolt that -- baltimore that broke out in a garage right around dinner time. it was close to patrick's pub

on pratt street. we understand there was trouble first getting the fire hydrants to work properly. no one was injured in this fire. now maryland's most powerful doppler radar and the forecast certified most accurate by weatherate. >> yesterday's high temperature on target with our two degree guarantee. 86 degrees and oh did it feel nice with the low humidity and mostly sunny skies. and light breeze out of the north. it was 38 york pa it was 84 and easton ocean city had 80 and only 70 back towards oakland. they had more clouds during the afternoon. on this first of july, what do we spec? 65 in the morning and -- expect? 65 in the morning. 50 in 1988 and 103 in 1901. sun up at 5:44. an though just about ten days ago we had ourselves the solstice we haven't noticed much of a difference in the sundown time sunset is at 8:37.

a little fluctuation and variance at least in terms of our portion of the orbit around the sun. but once we head to the 4th of july, you will notice this time getting earlier and earlier as the days continue to get short and shorter. high pressure in control -- shorter and shorter. high pressure is in control. the heat continues to build across the heartland. that will slip in our direction. around the bubble of hot air, there tends to be disturbances that ride through and that's the band of showers that is riding through indiana this morning. there may be a little shift of this and we may get the influence of the next wave of showers and storms to gib us clouds into the afternoon -- gib us clouds into the afternoon and tonight. we will get into the heat heading into the holiday weekend. and you will notice not much going on. we have the general northerly flow holding humidity down. letting the sun do its thing and it will do its thing getting us back into the upper 80s and we watch the disturbance with clouds arriving tomorrow. and maybe tomorrow night on into sunday morning there's a chance of a shower and we could

have another round of showers again we get the influence of that northerly flow trying to bring in disturb ands but overall we are looking at nice weather and typical summer heat and humidity building over the holiday weekend. 89 today for the two degree guaranteed high, and mostly sunny skies. a little warmer than yesterday's 86 and you will feel it. but still you will feel nice air overnight and we drop back to about 60. still comfortable and still warmer and mid-60s by the bay and some upper 50s north and west. our holiday weekend shapes up like this. 92 on saturday and 94 sunday. and chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms. the humidity build and on the 4th of july we are holding with a high of 92. >> reporter: our earlier fuel spill in harford county has been cleaned up. travel mountain road at old joppa once again. look at top side of the beltway, no problems to report. traffic is flowing freely as everyone gets out on the road. 695 at harford road. jones fall expressway the jfx

no problems to report. that's southbound to the right of the screen. very light traffic right now. nothing to worry about. back to you guys. >> thanks a lot. after weeks of speculation, would casey anthony take the stand, thursday the court got the answer. >> the accused murderer didn't testify and her attorneys promptly rested the case. now what is next in the highly publicized trial and when can the jury get down to work? it's been a dark cloud overhead for months and thursday the nba lockout became a reality. what caused the fight between owners and players and when could this end? and answer proposed answer will probably surprise you. you are watching "good morning maryland" first and only at 4:30.

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america's diner is always open. five minutes away from six. five things to know before heading out door. defense refed the case without casey act -- rested the case without casey anthony taking the stand now rebuttal witnesses and closing arguments which could wrap up this weekend. she is accused of killing her 2- year-old daughter caylee in 2008. former imf chief dominic strauss-kahn will appear in court today.

he is accused of sexually assaulting a housekeeper in his hotel room. however, "the new york times" is reporting there are questions about the credibility of strauss-kahn's accuser. today in washington, d.c., the national park service announces details on the 4th of july celebration on the national mall. the news conference will he focus on safety and how to avoid heat exhaustion during the activities on monday. airport security breach is being investigateed. a -- investigated. a spasser with stolen id and someone else's boarding pass got on the flight. he was caught when he tried to get on another flight on an expired boarding pass. the nfl and now the nba, the league has announced they are in a lockout with the players and the collective bargaining agreement expiring. players and owners couldn't reach a new contract and the two sides remain far apart on just about every issue especially revenue sharing.

more than half of the teams lost money last season. coming at 6, you know the cost of college is going up. but first, it's a kind of list we can tell you about how much. >> the list says reveals which college are hiking their tuition the most and officials need to just. >> i what they are doing. many jobs -- justify what they are doing. many jobs -- one company says you have to kick the habit of smoking before getting on their payroll. if you are traveling to delaware, a toll plaza is trying to ensure you won't be slowed down on the road. what makes the toll plaza so speedy. you are watching "good morning maryland" first and only at 4:30 in the morning.

now "good morning maryland." your alcohol will cost more starting today. a 50% increase